The insurance companies:
Currently, only 14 insurance companies operate in Israel, including five large insurance groups active in all fields of insurance (property, liabilities, vehicles, apartments, health, life and pension) and the other companies are small and medium companies that operate in part of the fields. Out of these companies two companies are operating directly without agents, as well as two companies that operate digitally via the Internet only. Most of the companies operate through independent agents in various locations all across Israel that liaise between them and the clients at the stage of insurance purchase as well as filing the claim.
The agents:
In Israel there are more than 9,000 license holders. 5,000 are independent agents (brokers), and the other agents are employed by insurance companies that belong to the insurance companies or insurance companies that employ directly agents that represent them exclusively.
Consultants: There are several hundred consultants that provide one-time advice to clients and get paid for it. The consultant does not represent the clients in the process of purchasing the insurance policy or the claim.
Regulation: The state supervises the insurance sector and it has two goals: The one: maintaining the economic stability of the insurance companies, and the other: safeguarding the interests of the insured, the state approved the contents of the insurance policies sold and their prices.
All the insurance companies in Israel are under obligation to enter into a contract with reinsurance companies in case of a catastrophe, most of the reinsurance companies in Israel are companies from Germany, Switzerland and England.
The insurance fields:
There are several prominent insurance fields. Elementary and health insurance, life and pension insurance and financial insurance
Elementary and health insurance: Elementary insurance includes the property that a person has, an apartment, its contents, the vehicle, the business as well as his liabilities as a third party, professional liability and more. The health insurance is purchased as additional insurance beyond the national health insurance in order to allow private health care by the best experts in the field as well as nursing care that will allow an appropriate standard of living during old age.
The life and pension field: The life insurance field has a wide variety of plans to insure against risk of death, in order to allow family to continue living in economic well-being after the death of the insured, the pension world is important to allow us to maintain economic well-being during the third age.
The financial field: Currently it is possible to save with insurance companies in a variety of plans for various purposes and various periods of time (short, medium or long) in different and various investment plans.
The duty to insure: No insurances are compulsory in Israel other than:
Compulsory vehicle insurance policy: Every vehicle must be insured in a compulsory insurance policy and will compensate for bodily harm. The insurance is annual and the rates depend upon the vehicle type, the model year and the age of the drivers of the vehicle.
Compulsory pension insurance: Every employer in the economy must insure its employees in a pension plan which provides a savings plan for pension as well as payment, God forbid, for work disability of the employee, the pension plan is being paid both by the employer as well as the employee and receives tax benefits from the state.
Mortgage insurance: Upon taking a mortgage from a bank to purchase a house, the borrowers are required to insure the house in terms of property and life insurance. In the event of a disaster, God forbid, the bank will receive the money from the insurance company and the loan will be repaid.
To summarize: Israel has a dynamic and well-developed insurance sector. Families in Israel have a variety of insurances in the various insurance fields. Each person should take responsibility and check with a professional the risks that he / she faces and how to defend against them correctly, in terms of the widest insurance policies at the most decent price.
The author is a client portfolio manager at the American desk (Centurion Desk) at El-Ad Insurance Agency Ltd. kiel@el-ad.co.il.
El-Ad Insurance Agency Ltd.
“It is challenging to provide service, and we are happy to take on the challenge for more than 50 years.”
We are one of the largest insurance agencies operating for many years in Jerusalem and providing services to thousands of English speakers via out American desk (Centurion Desk).
www.el-ad.co.il
kiel@el-ad.co.il
+972-2-6228555